Reflections of Persian classical music

Rokh رُخ means face in persian

The Rokh Quartet brings to life the multifaceted essence of Persian classical music, weaving its intricate influences and expressions into original compositions and innovative arrangements. With a deep and inspired sensibility, they reveal the timeless beauty and versatility of this rich musical tradition.

Story

The Rokh Project (originally Rokhs) was founded in the winter of 2021, born from a shared desire to explore and perform pieces from the Persian classical repertoire. Rejecting constraints of specific periods or regions within the Iranian world, the musicians sought to uncover and highlight the aesthetic threads that unite these diverse traditions. Through this exploration, they have developed a distinctive musical language expressed in both their original works and their reimagined arrangements. The group’s debut album, Bostântchi, is set for release in spring 2025.

Sogol Mirzaei

Târ

Sogol Mirzaei is a rising star of Persian music in the western scene. She first trained under master musicians Houshang Zarif and Arshad Tahmasebi in Tehran, and performed on the most prestigious stages of the country. Now based in Paris where she moved to pursue academic studies in musicology at the Sorbonne, she is involved in numerous eclectic and successful projects, such as Jordi Savall’s Orpheus 21 and Accords Croisés’ headliners (Atine, Sowal Diabi) with which she performs around the world ; while she also shines as a soloist and within her own project Chakam Ensemble, which she founded in 2014, where her inspired compositions meet the authentic tradition.

Hossein Rad

Vocals, dârayeh, tombak

Hossein Rad is a Geneva-based musician and music producer, born in Tehran. He began learning music with his father at an early age, and he has constantly sought to further his musical knowledge of the vocal and instrumental repertoires of Iranian classical music since, with important maestros such as Ali Bayâni, Djamchid Chemirani, Hamid-Reza Khalatbari, as well as western vocal technics with Muriel Ferraro. His interests reaching far and wide, he has devoted considerable attention to the different traditional repertoires of the region, namely those of Central Asia which he approached under guidance of Jean During. Hossein is the founder of Horan Sounds, a non-profit music agency which supports Iran-based musicians and promotes their projects abroad.

Yassamin Shahhosseini

Oud

Yasamin Shahhosseini, a native of Tehran, has distinguished herself as a leading young master of the oud, for which she was awarded with a prestigious Aga Khan Music Award in 2022. Highly regarded for her work with a variety of innovative ensembles as well as for her solo compositions and improvisations, her live performances and recordings shine both for their technical finesse and for the thoughtful way that she incorporates traditional material into a fresh and original musical language. Yasamin published an acclaimed oud solo album, Gahan, released in Tehran in 2015, and has become since 2020 a close musical accomplice of major international artists Ross Daly and Keyhan Kalhor.

Sina Danesh

Kamâncheh

An early prodigy of the kamâncheh, Sina Danesh won first prize at the Fajr International Music Festival youth competition at age 12 only. He first started learning music with Moussa Mohammadi, later completed his training under Ahmad Mohsenpour, and went on to study at the Tehran University of Arts, where he graduated in Iranian music performance. A member of the ensemble “Sheyda” of the legendary Mohammad Reza Lotfi from back in 2008, he is also the founder of the Ân ensemble, and regularly performs his kamâncheh for high end productions.

Ava Arresazan

Oud

Oud player and composer, Ava Arresazan began learning music as a child with her mother, Azar Zargarian. A little later, she continued her oud training with Ehsan Emami and at the age of 18 she entered the School of Fine Arts (University of Tehran) to study Iranian music. At the same time, she began her professional career performing at the Niavaran Hall with the group Shahrazad. During this time, she was taught by Negar Boban, Dariush Talai and Yordal Tokjan, and won first prize in the 11th National Festival of Youth on oud. Immediately after graduating, she began a Master’s degree in composition, focusing on contemporary Western music, at the same university. During this period, she began collaborating with the ” Aan ” and “Noroud” ensembles, with whom she recorded two albums: “Aftab Roshan” and “Noroud”.